FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



them. While sinking the bird continues moving, but 

 always concealed in the thick foliage, and it is probably 

 this constant turning about of the singer, and the notes 

 coining through leafy screens of varying density, which 

 makes the ventriloquism and give* so much light and 

 shade to the mysterious melody 



"The first bird of this species I thot was wounded 

 very slightly in one wing and fell into a stream; to my 

 very great surprise it began singing its usual song while- 

 floating about on the surface, making no attempt to 

 swim. After fishing it out it continued to sing at inter- 

 vals in my hand; how .strange it was to hear this 

 bleeding, captive bird warbling out soft, sweet notes 

 which seemed to express only pleasant emotions ! Yet 

 it was evident that the bird wa<s fully alive to its danger, 

 for it struggled violently to escape and bit my finger 

 savagely with its cdiarp beak. 



"I subsequentlv found a nest ; it was about 7in. deep. 

 composed entirely of lichens gathered from the boles of 

 trees, ingeniously woven together and suspended from 

 the small twigs and leaves at the extremity of a branch. 

 There were no eggs in it. but the birds fluttered in gn-it 

 trouble about me. and. what surprised me. uttered a 

 variety of .<i/i</!/it/ notes, unlike their usual song, but 

 many of them closely resembling the notes of other 

 songsters, which made me think that this Irfcnis pos- 

 - the mimicking faculty to some extent." 



Though many collectors >pe:ik of this as a common 

 bird, I have been unable to find a description of the eggs. 

 Russ speaks of it as unfortunately extremely rare in the 

 market ; indeed, he s.'ems only to have known of one 

 example in the Berlin Zoological Gardens. Touching 

 Hudson's remarks respecting this bird singing Avhen dis- 

 tressed. it is by no means the only Starling which does 

 so. You can make the ( 'rested Mynah .-ing by catching 

 it and holding it in your hands. Mo.-t Starling 

 clever mimics. 



YELT.OW-CKOWNK1) I 1 ANGXKST ( Ir/rn/.< i-Jirt/fnrt ji/ial l/--'\ . 



Black ; the crown, forehead excepted. upper lesser 

 wing-coverts, under wing-coverts and thighs yellow; 

 bill and feet black: irides brown. Female similar in 

 plumnge. but doubtless with a shorter hill. Hab.. 

 " Colombia, Venezuela. Guiana, and Amazonia " iP. L. 

 Sclater.) 



Mr. II. AYhitely obtained this species on Rr.raima at 

 a height of 3,500 feet (Tlr 7///X 1885, p. 218). 



Spix found this species singly in forest on the Rio 

 Negro, where it was not rare, but in Guiana and Colombia 

 it was abundant. It sings very prettily, according to 

 Pelzeln, and that appears to be all that has been pub- 

 lished respecting its wild life. 



The London Zoological Society purchased an example 

 in 1886. and in 1893 Miss Hage'nVek exhibited another 

 at the exhibition of the " Ornis " Society. 



YELLOW-SHOULDERED UANGNEST (Icterus 



Black ; lesser upper wing-coverts, under wing-coverts 

 and thighs yellow ; bill black : feet bluish-grey ; irides 

 red -brown. ' Female similar in plumage, but doubtless 

 with a, shorter bill. Hah., South-east Brazil, 



Burmei'ster (" S >che Uehersicht." Vol. III.. 



pp. 271, 272) says' that this Hangnest "lives chiefly in 

 pairs in bushy regions, prefers river banks, feeds on. 

 ts and nearly ripe fleshy fruits, and has a not 

 imp-leasing song, which attempts to mimic the notes of 

 other birds like that of our Starling. Nidificates in 

 purse-shaped, pensile nests, openly woven of dry stems, 



* Dr. Russ r-oiifouiiils thi> tspecic.s with the closely related 

 I. rai/tutriixi* : his description and observations certainly apply 

 to 7. tibinlis. 



and lays whitish-blue eggs, speckled with red-brown." 

 \V. A. Forbes says (The Ibis, 1881, p. 339): "This 

 bird I first observed at Quipapa, where it was not un- 

 common in the vicinity of the town, flying about in 

 small companies of twos and threes. ' I "afterwards 

 found it at Ma-cuca and Garanhuns, and saw a single 

 specimen in the garden at C.'aln> a few days In-fore I 

 sailed, though I did not see the species at all during 

 my previous stay there. The bird is also found at San 

 Loreii/o. a, village about twenty miles west of R-ecii 

 a living specimen I bought in Recife came from i 

 The bird is not rarely to be seen caged in the houses of 

 the Brazilians, who call it " Sheshou de Bananeira." to 

 distinguish it from the common "Sheshou" (Cassicu* 

 persicus). It is also sometimes called " Soldado." -or 

 soldier. I .succeeded in -bringing three specimens alive 

 to London, two of which are still living in the Zool< 

 Gardens, where it has not before, I believe, bee. 

 hibited alive.'' 



According to Russ. this bird was first imported into 

 Germany early in 1870. and both .Jamrach of London 

 and l.ekemans of Antwerp have introduced it several 

 times into the market. Prince Ferdinand of Bui 

 -ssed it in 1878; but Mr. Forbes, in 1880. w;i 

 first to add it to the London Zoological Society's col- 

 lection. Since then it has always come over occasion 

 ally if not very often, and always singly. 



A\"AGI. KK'S HAXGXKST (Icterus irai/Ji-ri}. 



Black; rump, abdomen, and anal tuft bright cadmium 

 yellow; slightlv tinged with chestnut close to the black 

 of the chest ; bill bla.ck. the lower mandible pale greyish- 

 blue towards base: feet leaden grey: irides brown. 

 Female smaller, and with shorter bill. I lab.. Mexico 

 and Guatemala. 



Mr. C. W. Beebe ("Two Bird-lovers in Mexico." \}> 

 pendix. p. 392) says of this .-pecies : " Abundant in 

 barrancas about Guadalajara and ironi Tnxpan to 

 Pacific." and at p. 149 he observes : " Orioles soon made 

 their appearance-, a flock of them, somewhat like our 

 Baltimores. but larger and with jet bla--k wings and 

 tail the Wagler Orioles. Their gaudy costume nf 

 orange and black is not acquired until the third year, 

 and during the first two seasons the immature birds 

 have to be satisfied with more sombre tints of Huda 

 yellow and green. These birds, too, have renounced 

 song fc,-r their coat of many colours, and can only rattle 

 harshly. Their alarm-note is hard and metallic, like 

 that of a Nuthatch." 



The -above is all that 1 have discovered respecting 

 the wild life. 



According to Russ, it has hitherto only appeanrl in 

 the London Zoological Gardens, -where it arrived in 

 1876. 



BLACK-WIXGED HANGNKST (Tctcrux girai/dll. 



Bright yellow, tinged with orange ; front and sides 

 of head, throat to middle of 'breast, wings, tail, bill, arid 

 feet, black. Hab., S. Mexico, Yucatan, Guatemala, and 

 throughout Central America to Vanezuela and 

 Colombia. 



Mr. G. H. Gurney purchased an example of this rare 

 Hangnest early in 1909. 



GOLDEN HANGNEST (iHvms xanthornus). 

 Bright golden yellow, slightly washed with olive 

 between the shoulders; wings, excepting the lesser 

 coverts, black; greater coverts, secondaries, and bases 

 of primaries edged with white ; greater coverts with 

 white tips; tail black, the lateral feathers more or less, 

 broadly edged with whitish at the tips, the concealed 

 bases of the feathers yellow ; lores black ; naked orbital 



